Writing the Apocalypse is a weekly series featuring the poems, essays, and recollections of Puma Perl, with subject matter influenced by her experiences as a NYC resident during the COVID-19 pandemic.

After Inauguration| TEXT AND PHOTOS BY PUMA PERL

After Inauguration

There will be poems.

Images recalling Michelle Obama Purple,

Jill Biden Periwinkle Blue, Bernie’s brown mittens,

and sounds of Lady Gaga’s dove, Pat Smear’s guitar,

the lyrics of “Hallelujah,” the voice of the brave

and beautiful Amanda Gorman forming syllables

without hesitation, not even on the r’s.

Poems: heartfelt, pointed, political, occasional.

Like fireworks, some explode, some are duds.

There will be joy and tears and determination

and disappointment and criticism and hope and cynicism.

I wrote a poem watching Obama’s first inauguration;

called it “A Day of Great Hope.”

I remember a commentator saying

It doesn’t matter where you watched it

as long as you didn’t watch it alone.

Today, we are together and alone,

although some are together and together

and some are alone and alone.

I begin to write but get derailed

after Diva steps on the surge protector

and pulls the cable out of the Modem.

Not sure how she managed to fold

her little old body under the desk

in search of a lone crumb dropped

a year and a lifetime ago.

It doesn’t matter why or how

because in this stumbling world

we move on quickly, horror fading

into memory, until the aftershock hits.

Forced into compromise, we fight among ourselves.

Frustration, powerlessness, rage, anxiety,

and a bit of optimism buried in the negative space

as we forge ahead into another year or maybe four.

I don’t know if it was a day of great hope

or a day of great relief, or both combined,

rolled up into Tuesdays and Wednesdays,

as we mourn and grieve and celebrate,

walk our dogs and eat our breakfasts,

those of us lucky enough to still be alive.

© puma perl, 01/26/21

Puma Perl is a poet and writer, with five solo collections in print. The most recent is Birthdays Before and After (Beyond Baroque Books, 2019.) She is the producer/creator of Puma’s Pandemonium, which brings spoken word together with rock and roll, and she performs regularly with her band Puma Perl and Friends. She’s received three New York Press Association awards in recognition of her journalism, and is the recipient of the 2016 Acker Award in the category of writing. Her most recent books can be found by clicking here.

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